When You Become What You’re Fighting Against
When you embrace the tactics of the enemy what then becomes the difference between you and your enemy? It’s a question I’ve asked more than a few times over the last 4 or 5 years – Andrew Sullivan provides a good answer.
The phrase “Verschärfte Vernehmung” is German for “enhanced interrogation”. Other translations include “intensified interrogation” or “sharpened interrogation”. It’s a phrase that appears to have been concocted in 1937, to describe a form of torture that would leave no marks, and hence save the embarrassment pre-war Nazi officials were experiencing as their wounded torture victims ended up in court. The methods, as you can see above, are indistinguishable from those described as “enhanced interrogation techniques” by the president. As you can see from the Gestapo memo, moreover, the Nazis were adamant that their “enhanced interrogation techniques” would be carefully restricted and controlled, monitored by an elite professional staff, of the kind recommended by Charles Krauthammer, and strictly reserved for certain categories of prisoner. At least, that was the original plan.
But that could never happen in America could it? They’re the good guys, they have rules, and restrictions.
Also: the use of hypothermia, authorized by Bush and Rumsfeld, was initially forbidden. ‘Waterboarding” was forbidden too, unlike that authorized by Bush. As time went on, historians have found that all the bureaucratic restrictions were eventually broken or abridged. Once you start torturing, it has a life of its own.
Ooops…….
Accepted by the American people, in the name of homeland security.
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stageleft on Monday, June 4th, 2007 and is filed under
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The U.S.A. has essentially become no better than any other barbarous, uncivilized rogue-like regime.
Folks can blame the Bush administration, the center-right democrats, the lobbyists, the fundamentalists, et al., for such a dismal state of affairs – but the hurtful truth remains that, in the end, the blame lies primarily with the voters themselves.
Mea culpa, mea culpa, vox populi.
“…the hurtful truth remains that, in the end, the blame lies primarily with the voters themselves.”
I reckon the voters can take some blame. Primary blame? I don’t buy it.
The established parties have money, power, influence and history to continue propelling them into undeserved office. The hapless voter gets a choice between tweedle-dum an’ tweedle-dee. Fringe parties remain on the fringe largely due to inertia and the inability of smaller, grassroots campaigns to raise the millions needed to get elected in western “democracies.”
Jingoism, ethnocentrism, politico-religious fervor, blatant disinformation campaigns by those in power, corruption, war-profiteering, fear-mongering, stifling of dissent, witch-hunts and a general dumbing down of the electorate are the tactics used by the powerful to stay in power. TV ads, billboards, bumper stickers, paid pundits and push polls all cost money and the bigass parties and their bigass backers can afford to buy the votes they need.
BTW, Sullivan oughta know about Godwin’s Law. Comparing anything or anybody to Nazis is verboten.
JB
I agree with Mentarch – while the distinction between tweedle-dum and tweedle-dee may not be as stark as we would like it to be, the fact is that voters still elected someone who promotoes torture, regardless of the beaucratic labels.
To say people are just being manipulated into voting for X and not Y ignores the fact that half of America voted for Y in the last Presidential election.
Countries that do not condone torture all deal with a reactionary political element in their own elections – but the populace knows better than to elect them. Americans – not so much – everyone is too busy watching American Idol (which is blatant blasphemy – which commandment is that again?).
The differences between tweedle-dee and tweedle-dum are exactly what the electorate have decided they are willing to accept.
If Americans, as a nation, were, for example, unwilling to accept their president ordering that people be tortured they would have made that known with far louder voices than they did during their mid-terms wouldn’t they?
The fact of the matter is that they did not, and that should speak volumes.
What we did see was a national minimization of those acts, a national shrugging of shoulders at those acts, a national rationalization of those acts, and national acceptance of those acts – that also speaks volumes about the nature of what America has become.
I ain’t so sure there was an anti-torture ticket to vote for in those mid-terms. I reckon Hillary’s leading Dem and I don’t think she’s too much different than Dubya. A lotta Merkan want outta EyeRack but still wanna let Jack Bauer cut the fingers off anybuddy who might hurt Merka.
What about us Canajuns? Where was the marchin’ in the streets when our PM an’ his pet goat lied all over themselves on the detainee issue? How’s that Afghan Human Rights agency doin’ these days? Anybuddy wonderin’?
Canajun silence speaks volumes, too.
JB
Canajun silence speaks volumes, too.
No, no, no. We here in the blogosphere just write things about stuff like that. It’s up to others to act.